Morphological Confetti

Artist spotlight is becoming my thing to do here at Morphological Confetti. I sometime stumble upon great artist and I just want to share them with the rest of the world – the MC audience. Recently, I did an image search pertaining to African American history when I came across a wonderful piece of artwork created by painter and photographer, Cedric Smith. My first reaction to his work was that of extreme admiration; I was impressed. Smith’s beautiful and colorful images resembled old ads from the early part of the 20th Century. Smith says that his inspiration and influences are drawn from the Georgia landscape and its people. Smith’s memories growing up and nostalgia also play a significant role in his work. As many of you know, the ads in America’s early years were often racist in its portrayal of Africans in America. Cedric wanted to change this negative perception. The difference in Cedric Smith’s work is that the images are positive and appealing; for instance, there a...

Photo source: Horace Pippin, 1940 / Carl Van Vechten, photographer. Smithsonian Archives of American Art.   Horace Pippin (February 22, 1888 - July 6, 1946) was a self-taught Black American painter born in West Chester, PA. Pippin served in the 369th infantry in Europe during World War I, where he lost full use of his right arm; he would no longer be able to lift it past his shoulder. This did not prevent Horace Pippin from painting when he decided to pick up the paint brush around 1930. However, it took him three years to finish his first painting. The images he painted primarily featured everyday Black life, historical figures and scences from his childhood. His style was known as Naïve art , which is characterized by a childlike simplicity. Nevertheless, Pippin's scenes and subjects in his art were powerful and inspirational in their content. In fact, I'm wondering if he had some influence on the late Jacob Lawrence  is was similar in subject matter and simplicity....